Changes to Airborne Pollen Counts across Europe

A progressive global increase in the burden of allergic diseases has affected the industrialized world over the last half century and has been reported in the literature. The clinical evidence reveals a general increase in both incidence and prevalence of respiratory diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (common hay fever) and asthma. Such phenomena may be related not only to air pollution and changes in lifestyle, but also to an actual increase in airborne quantities of allergenic pollen. Experimental enhancements of carbon dioxide (CO) have demonstrated changes in pollen amount and allergenicity, but this has rarely been shown in the wider environment. The present analysis of a continental-scale pollen data set reveals an increasing trend in the yearly amount of airborne pollen for many taxa in Europe, which is more pronounced in urban than semi-rural/rural areas. Climate change may contribute to these changes, however increased temperatures do not appear to be a major influencing factor. Instead, we suggest the anthropogenic rise of atmospheric CO levels may be influential.

[1]  C. Galán,et al.  May the definition of pollen season influence aerobiological results? , 2006 .

[2]  A. Fitter,et al.  Rapid Changes in Flowering Time in British Plants , 2002, Science.

[3]  Europe.,et al.  In Europe … , 1994, Current History.

[4]  A. Mackay.  Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 2008 .

[5]  L. Ziska,et al.  Rising CO2, Climate Change, and Public Health: Exploring the Links to Plant Biology , 2008, Environmental health perspectives.

[6]  L. Ziska,et al.  Cities as harbingers of climate change: common ragweed, urbanization, and public health. , 2003, The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology.

[7]  H. Bambrick,et al.  Is the Global Rise of Asthma an Early Impact of Anthropogenic Climate Change? , 2005, Environmental health perspectives.

[8]  C. Galán,et al.  Trends in grass pollen season in southern Spain , 2010 .

[9]  B. Clot.  Trends in airborne pollen: An overview of 21 years of data in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) , 2003 .

[10]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[11]  L. Ziska,et al.  Research note: Increasing Amb a 1 content in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) pollen as a function of rising atmospheric CO2 concentration. , 2005, Functional plant biology : FPB.

[12]  Janet L. Gamble,et al.  Aeroallergens, Allergic Disease, and Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation , 2009, EcoHealth.

[13]  F. Bazzaz,et al.  Production of allergenic pollen by ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is increased in CO2-enriched atmospheres. , 2002, Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology.

[14]  Pim Martens,et al.  Phenology and human health: allergic disorders , 2003 .

[15]  J. L. Petri,et al.  CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT WINTER CHILLING ON APPLE TREE BUD-BREAK , 2004 .

[16]  P. Beggs.  Impacts of climate change on aeroallergens: past and future , 2004, Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

[17]  Matt Smith,et al.  Changes in the pollen seasons of the early flowering trees Alnus spp. and Corylus spp. in Worcester, United Kingdom, 1996–2005 , 2006, International journal of biometeorology.

[18]  J. Corden,et al.  Quantitative trends in annual totals of five common airborne pollen types (Betula, Quercus, Poaceae, Urtica, and Artemisia), at five pollen-monitoring stations in western Europe , 2003 .

[19]  G. D'Amato,et al.  Effects of climate change on environmental factors in respiratory allergic diseases , 2008, Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

[20]  F. Bazzaz,et al.  Interaction of the Onset of Spring and Elevated Atmospheric CO2 on Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) Pollen Production , 2006, Environmental health perspectives.

[21]  Å. Dahl,et al.  Predicting the intensity of the birch pollen season , 1996 .

[22]  Denis-Didier Rousseau,et al.  Selecting models to predict the timing of flowering of temperate trees: implications for tree phenology modelling , 1999 .

[23]  R. Gehrig,et al.  Responses in the start of Betula (birch) pollen seasons to recent changes in spring temperatures across Europe , 2002, International journal of biometeorology.

[24]  M. Semenov,et al.  Climate Change Affects Winter Chill for Temperate Fruit and Nut Trees , 2011, PloS one.

[25]  S. Bonini,et al.  Allergenic pollen and pollen allergy in Europe , 2007, Allergy.

[26]  C. Galán,et al.  Influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on grass pollen counts in Europe , 2006 .

[27]  Cynthia Rosenzweig,et al.  Assessment of observed changes and responses in natural and managed systems , 2007 .

[28]  N. Nelson,et al.  Effects of decadal exposure to interacting elevated CO2 and/or O3 on paper birch (Betula papyrifera) reproduction. , 2008, Environmental pollution.

[29]  L. Ziska,et al.  Climate change, aerobiology, and public health in the Northeast United States , 2008 .

[30]  T. Dawson,et al.  Urbanization effects on tree growth in the vicinity of New York City , 2003, Nature.

[31]  J Mullol,et al.  Air pollution and allergens. , 2007, Journal of investigational allergology & clinical immunology.

[32]  Rik Leemans,et al.  Faculty Opinions recommendation of European phenological response to climate change matches the warming pattern. , 2006 .

[33]  J. Emberlin.  The effects of patterns in climate and pollen abundance on allergy , 1994, Allergy.

[34]  P. Jones,et al.  A European daily high-resolution gridded data set of surface temperature and precipitation for 1950-2006 , 2008 .

[35]  D. Vokou,et al.  Long-term trends in atmospheric pollen levels in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece , 2007 .